Eat Your Heart Out .. With That Special Someone, That Is -- At South Florida Restaurants That Are Just Right For Couples Celebrating Valentine`s Day.

February 9, 1990|By ROBERT TOLF, Table Talk Columnist

Oh Cupid! Don`t spare me your arrows.

You are back again, and it`s time to rush around and buy roses and soupy cards, everything heart-shaped, and to find a place for that perfect romantic evening.

Romance and romantic settings are surely in the eye of the beholder. But, on Valentine`s Day, more important than T-bone steaks and fried onion loaves, chimichangas or zuppa di pesce are lacey curtains and plush draperies, formally clad footmen, flowers everywhere, and a bit of mood music.

The couples make the magic, but the surroundings have to be conducive to the occasion.

If the rendezvous is to be in the southern stretches of the Gold Coast, here are my county-by-county suggestions.

PALM BEACH COUNTY

The new Colombe d`Or (4400 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton; 338-9155) offers a sensational appeal to the romantic. The feeling is all springtime fresh with windows looking out on sidewalk tables, complete with umbrellas and tiny lights sparkling from the greenery.

Fresh flowers are found in abundance. Candles cast a soft glow. And the father-son partnership of Georges and Raymond Colovich are always there to ensure an evening of joy.

The food is prepared with great pride and sensitivity, and presented with style.

For a strictly French kind of evening, start with the onion soup, delivered in a most civilized container. Continue with the sweetbreads, displayed at the base of a fan created out of thin asparagus spears.

Or you can go Italian with one of the farinaceous features. A tricolor triumph with lobster slices tried a few nights ago was terrific, as were the swordfish in a fine bearnaise and the medallions of veal.

For a display of similarly high standards in cheffing, head farther north -- to Palm Beach and wonderful Worth Avenue. There you can stroll before or after the evening`s eating entertainment, which must be at Cafe L`Europe (Esplanade, Worth Avenue; 655-4020), one of the most delightful and tasteful restaurants in the state. And it`s in a setting that is a veritable explosion of fresh flowers.

BROWARD COUNTY

How about a skyscraper-kind of setting, one with a mood-inspiring panoramic view of our very own Venice?

A poor table simply does not exist at Le Dome, now happily returned to the ranks of the front-runners. But when you make a reservation, ask for a window table for two, removed from the realities of everything and everyone around.

And if you arrive early enough (between 5 and 6 p.m.) you can partake of Le Dome`s special pre-theater dinners. Of course, these are not to be referred to as early birds, not at Le Dome.

The moneysavers are built around such agreeable offerings as smoked salmon, chopped chicken liver appetizers, and entrees of dolphin, shrimp, swordfish, Norwegian salmon, chicken, duck and veal.

If overlooking the city cobwebbed with canals isn`t your thing, how about sitting alongside the Intracoastal watching the sun set -- and being pampered by the waiters at Frankie`s.

Frankie`s (3333 NE 32nd Ave., Fort Lauderdale; 566-7853) is a marvelous westward-facing locale for engaging in that nightly ritual of sunset-watching. You can sit in an unobtrusive, non-glitzy setting while being well-served and fed, Italian style.

And when their thirst is quenched, appetites quieted, celebratory couples can continue the evening in Frankie`s lounge, complete with dance floor and lively musicians.

There`s more of that kind of entertainment at another two-stage restaurant -- although without the view of the Intracoastal.

At the French Quarter (215 SE Eighth Ave., Fort Lauderdale; 463-8000), diners can concentrate on each other downstairs, or dine and dance upstairs. And there is a greater than normal supply of tables for two providing precisely that kind of opportunity.

The menu is eclectic French-New Orleans, the service spiffy, and the setting romantic in a back-to-the-greenhouse kind of way. Owner -- and omnipresent operator -- Louis Flemati has a way with growing things.

Across the parking lot is Flemati`s initial success, the Cafe de Paris (715 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale; 467-2900). The front room in that cafe, which is off to one side, is filled with a splendid touristy capturing of the spirit of Montmartre, which is guaranteed to bring out all good thoughts about Paris. It encourages visitors to return.

What could be better on Valentine`s Day than sweet talk about a stroll down the Champs Elysees, a climb up Montparnasse and a lazy afternoon doing some serious people-watching?

If you want to evoke the same kind of sentiments about jolly old England, while satisfying the senses by a full parade of well-prepared dinners that are as good as anything you`ll find in London, make a reservation at Sheffield`s in Marriot`s Harbor Beach (3030 Holiday Drive, Fort Lauderdale; 525-4000).